HIMSSCast: How a health plan gained high marks for member satisfaction 

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Mass General Brigham Health Plan in Boston has an estimated 400,000 members and covers the state of Massachusetts. It also covers about 150,000-plus Medicaid members and a substantial commercial population which includes 80,000 Mass General Brigham employees, according to Steve Tringale, president of Mass General Brigham Health Plan.

Earlier this year, J.D. Power ranked the health plan No. 1 in member satisfaction among commercial health plans in Massachusetts, for a second year in a row. It also ranked it high for most trusted commercial health plan, Tringale said.

Tringale credits provider and payer integration and the "direct pipeline" into the delivery system. Providers are the plan's colleagues and partners, he said. The health plan's chief medical office is also the chief population health officer for the Mass General Brigham health system. 

"We're looking at using not only the clinical capacity but the enormous research and intellectual capacity that's resident inside both our health plan directly and in our relationship with Mass General Brigham to provide what we believe is a substantially different service than some of our competitors, who are more traditional insurers, can provide," Tringale said. "I think it's that integration which has helped with the issue of trust for our members."

For more, please listen to Tringale's conversation with Susan Morse, executive editor of Healthcare Finance News.

Talking Points: 

• The Mass General Brigham Health Plan network includes a large number of providers across Massachusetts as well as New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Maine.
• Members who are traveling have access to in-network providers across the country.
• The health plan, which was rebranded about a year ago, has been around for about 40 years. 
• The plan is both high tech and high touch.
• On the technology side, members have a patient gateway app that can answer questions.
• A high touch model has guides on the delivery system side but who work for the health plan to help patients navigate through the large system.

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Email the writer: SMorse@himss.org